Friday, Apr 8, 2016

Time to head back to Bahia and see my wife! It’s been a fun trip, and I’m ready to get back to my piece of heaven in our little town of Bahia. We all met for breakfast on the porch of Hosteria Mandala this morning. It is such a pleasant place to be, and it made the company and breakfast all that much more enjoyable!

We hired a different driver going home and it looks like this company travels all over Ecuador, so I think I may have a new resource for getting around when I don’t want to deal with the bus. The company is www.Transrabbit.com.ec Check it out!

On our way through Manta we had lunch on the beach and then stopped at Supermaxi to look for those things we cannot get in Bahia. Before moving to Ecuador I never would have thought going to a grocery store is something I would look forward to doing, but it’s now become a novelty. Just goes to show you that the simplest of things can be entertaining.

It was nice to arrive back in town. We all said our goodbyes and then headed in our own directions. I relish the opportunities I regularly get here in Ecuador to meet new people and spend some time getting to know them.

And to Dennis and Debbie…have a great time during the rest of your visit exploring Ecuador!

Connection is becoming a strange animal in our social media driven world. The word, connection, is used the same but how it happens in social media and its technology is night and day from how connection happens outside of social media.

We can connect through social media without committing to the conversation or interaction. I can like your fb post without giving much thought to what you are saying. Conversely you can create a post without giving much thought to how it may be received, or what impact it may or may not have on its receiver. It is connecting in isolation.

We can create and respond behind a wall of anonymity, or at least blinded to the receiver’s facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. I can text you and then not get back to you for minutes, hours, or days. You can do the same with me. There is no agreed upon investment in our conversation.

I love technology and so many of the things it can do to help me in my life. However, it is when I am around people and we engage with one another face to face, beating heart to beating heart; when we are engaging through actual conversation, I realize how deficient social media is in its ability to truly connect us.

I am not going to give up fb, messaging, or even twitter. I’m just not going to be fooled that what I am doing there is the same as what I am doing when I sit around a table in conversation with someone. In this place I am committed, invested, accountable, and seen to those present.

These qualities are the gateway to authenticity and honesty in a conversation, which makes connection satisfying and rewarding. Engaging with my son, Steve, Cindy, Dennis, and Debbie over the last few days helps me to remember the importance of one’s actual presence to create richness in connection that, in my belief, is easily lost through social media and technology.

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Dennis, Debbie, and Cindy in a Tuktuk

Chao.